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Escaped Hells Angel found dead

Recent prison escapee and Hells Angel René Charlebois has been found dead, following an encounter with provincial police late Wednesday night.

The province's police force arrived at a small chalet off the shore of l'Ile aux Fantomes equipped with an arrest warrant when they discovered his body.

Suicide is suspected, though one witness claims to have heard shots fired around 1 a.m. Such evidence could be a false lead though, as the area is said to be regularly frequented by poachers, which could have been the source of the gunfire.

The investigation has been transferred from the Surete du Quebec over to the Montreal police force, which is currently investigating.

Authorities were tight-lipped about the death Thursday and would not confirm the hypothesis that Charlebois simply killed himself rather than accept to be recaptured.

"At this point there is no information pertaining to that. the investigation will follow its course," said Laurent Dyke of the Montreal police, who suggested that Charlebois would have had a long haul behind bars upon capture. "Had he gone back to prison he knew it would have been for good."

The 48-year-old was announced missing from a minimum-security prison in Laval on the night of Sept. 14, where he was detained and serving a sentence for second-degree murder.

The timing of Charlebois’ escape comes only three years before he was slated for parole after being behind bars since 2001. He was serving a sentence for non-premeditated murder and drug offences.

Sources described Charlebois as a model prisoner who was already eligible for day parole upon the time of his release from the Montee St. Francois prison in Laval.

The escape led Lévis-Bellechasse MP Steven Blaney, who serves as Public Safety Minister in the federal Harper cabinet, to demand a review on the classification of violent criminals last week

Charlebois was in the inner-circle of Hells Angels' chief Maurice "Mom" Boucher and was also known under his gang nickname Baloune, as well as Rene Ouellet-Charlebois.

He gained notereity when he managed to attract top talent to his wedding reception in Contrecoeur on August 5, 2000.

Singers Ginetto Reno and Jean-Pierre Ferland performed at the fete after being asked to appear by soap opera actor Claude Blanchard, at an even attended by about 350 people.

Reno later apologized for appearing at the event but told the Le Journal de Montreal. "Jesus kept company with bad people. Are they killers and criminals 24 hours a day?"

The home where Charlebois died was located on an island in the St. Lawrence that holds about 30 homes and is part of Sainte-Anne-de-Sorel, a municipality of 2,700 that sits about 100 km northeast of downtown Montreal.

It is a separate municipality from the nearby Sorel-Tracy where the Hells have long had a firm foothold.

Photos

Hells Angels killer Rene "Baloune" Charlebois, 48, is dead just days after escaping this minimum-security prison in Laval.